Page 16 of The Grump I Got Stuck With

Good. What was that about you needing a tow last night? I hope you weren’t attempting to drive?

No, a woman ran her vehicle off the road and took shelter at mine via climbing in through the dog door.

Three seconds later, my phone was ringing. I answered it to a chorus of laughter. I could hear Locke in the background, wheezing as they demanded the whole story. I sighed and explained how Madison had ended up in my kitchen. They only laughed harder.

“It’s not funny,” I grumbled.

“It’s bloody hilarious!” That was Locke. “You move to the middle of nowhere and a woman shimmies in through your dog door. Where’s Isla? I have to go tell her.”

I glowered as they cackled, checking up on Kenna. She jumped off a small snow hill into Madison’s arms. Even from here, I could see the huge grins on their faces. The woman was clearly good with kids, just as she’d said. Not that Kenna was a difficult child. She was usually bubbly and loved to have fun, but Madison seemed to match her energy. They started trudging back toward the kitchen door.

“Okay, we’ll let you get back to your house guest,” Weston said.

“She’s a trespasser.”

“Wait, one more thing,” Weston added, catching me before I hung up. “Lena wanted me to remind you that we’re headed to Texas for a few weeks after the new year.”

Christ, that’s right! Weston and Lena were off to negotiate a new land deal for another wind farm.

I rubbed my eyes, the stress piling up. I’d been dependent on the two of them taking Kenna a few afternoons a week so I could handle the investor calls without interruption. But with them out of the country, my childcare options dwindled to practically zero. I couldn’t impose on Locke and Isla, who’d just started her third trimester. I wasn’t that much of an asshole.

“I know we’ve been keeping an eye on Kenna for you⁠—”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll figure something out. Talk to you guys later.”

I hung up and leaned back in my chair. I really needed one of these nanny interviews to work out today, not just because I was tired of searching but because I didn’t have any other option. With a heavy sigh, I closed my laptop, made my way down to the kitchen, and prepared a quick lunch of cheese toasties. Thankfully, there was still enough bread for that.

Kenna scarfed hers down while she told me all about the ice palace they were building for Queen Princess.

“She’s a queen now, is she?”

“Yep!” Kenna said, yawning.

Nap time, I thought. Perfect. Just in time for me to do the nanny interviews. “All finished?” I asked her. “Why don’t we go lie down for a bit?”

Kenna held her arms up. She always wanted to be carried when she was sleepy. “Can Madison read me a story and tuck me in?” she asked. “And can Princess come? She can lay beside me on the bed.”

“I don’t think Princess needs to be in your bed.”

“A Princess asleep in bed is a Princess that’s not underfoot and barking,” Madison noted as she carried her dishes to the sink.

I exhaled sharply. She had a point. “All right.”

“Yay!” Kenna cheered, though it was accompanied by another yawn. I carried her upstairs, and once she was settled in bed, Princess tucked against her and Madison reading a story from her new book of fairy tales, I headed back to my office.

I’d never intended to interview nannies on Christmas Day, but when I’d asked the applicants for their earliest availability to chat, both of them had agreed to today. I didn’t know if that meant they had no plans or they simply needed a job urgently. Either way, the timing had worked out to have Kenna in her bed rather than in the playroom. Sometimes people had rude reactions when they recognized me, and I didn’t want Kenna to overhear what they might say. I glanced at the time on my phone, opened my laptop, and opened the meeting app.

The first woman seemed nice, but the moment I mentioned where she’d be living in rural Scotland, she hadn’t been able to hide her look of horror.

Fuck. Clarice all over again.

I thanked her for her time and ended the call early, my hope dwindling as I started the second interview.

“You don’t mind relocating?” I asked the woman right off the bat. No sense in dragging this out if that was a non-starter.

“No, that doesn’t bother me,” she said. “As long as you’ve got an internet connection and the child has access to her shows and whatnot.”

I frowned. The woman was a little older, and I worried that she planned to plop Kenna in front of a screen all day. I didn’t mind the odd bit of screentime, but Kenna deserved more engagement than that.